Swearing at work may cost you a promotion

If you swear at work, you may be sabotaging your career. So says a new survey from Career Builder that found 57 percent of employers would be less likely to promote a cusser at the office.

That said, half of all the workers in the survey of 2,000 hiring managers and 3,800 workers said they curse at the office.

A big majority (81 percent) of managers said the use of curse words brings an employee’s professionalism into question, as well as self-control issues (71 percent) and lack of maturity (68 percent). And 54 percent said swearing makes a worker seem less intelligent.

Where’s the most cursing going on? The survey found those in the nation’s capital are the worst culprits, with 62 percent admitting to swearing at the office. Washington D.C. is followed by Denver at 60 percent, Chicago at 58 percent, and Los Angeles and Boston at 56 percent. Houston did not crack the Top 10. Are we surprised?

Who’s doing the most cursing? Those of us between the ages of 35 and 44 admit to the most cursing (58 percent), followed by the 25-34s and the 45-54s (51 percent each). More men admit to swearing at work than women. (54 percent to 47 percent).

Who’s swearing at whom? While many employers don’t like their employees cursing, a fourth of them say they swear at their employees (25 percent). And about a fourth of employees say they swear at co-workers (28 percent).

Where do you curse? At work, home or the car? Everywhere? Nowhere? Has it ever affected your job?